Origins: Part 5, My first gallery experience

This is the fifth part in an ongoing series, in which I show my earlier works and trace how I found my voice as an artist.

For two years after I finished graduate school in 1997, I diligently sent out applications to Boston-area art galleries, hoping for ongoing representation, with no luck. Then, in 1999, I was fortunate enough to have my work selected as part of the Fuller Craft Museum’s (then known as the Fuller Museum of Art) prestigious Triennial series, an ongoing showcase of New England artists. The year I participated, the show was curated by Carl Belz, director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. As Mr. Belz’s particular interest and area of expertise was abstraction, all of the pieces in the exhibit were abstract works, and many of them were listed as being exhibited courtesy of the Genovese/Sullivan Gallery.

Realizing that this gallery might be a good fit for me, I sent them my slides and soon received an invitation to bring my work to the gallery. I met the directors, Camellia Genovese and David Sullivan, who looked carefully at the paintings I had brought and asked me to contact them again in six months to show what I had then. So I contacted them six months later, they visited my studio to view my newest paintings (which included "Winter," acrylic and spray-paint on fabric on canvas, 48" H x 28" W, below), and then they offered to represent my work as well as a part in an upcoming three-person exhibit.



This first exhibit at Genovese/Sullivan was a very exciting experience for me, for many reasons, but in particular because one of my paintings (“Ravel,” shown below, acrylic and spray-paint on fabric on canvas, 48 inches square) sold during the opening reception to a Boston gallerist. It was the first time I had ever sold a painting!



A two-person show, another three-person show, and finally a solo show followed over the next five years. Here is the invitation for my solo show (ca. 2003):



I was so excited about this show, my first solo in Boston! This one was reviewed in the Boston Globe. I can still remember driving to the local drugstore at the crack of dawn to buy the newspaper and read the review. I got the paper, rushed back to the car, and spread open the pages over the front seat. I couldn’t even wait to get home! I smiled at the headline (“Painter pitches curves at Genovese/Sullivan”) and was gratified to read the words of reviewer Cate McQuaid, who really “got” what I was trying to say.

I was also thrilled to hear that a well-known Boston collector had come into the gallery and purchased one of my paintings because he had liked the image of it on the invitation card (“Cross,” shown below, acrylic and spray-paint on canvas, 20 inches square).



Sadly, after decades of outstanding shows in Boston (with an artist roster that included such talents as Pat Keck, Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, Robert Hooper, and Mary Boochever), Camellia and David made the decision to close their gallery. I miss working with them, as well as viewing their exhibits, very much. I have been fortunate enough to find other champions of my work since our paths diverged, but I’ll always remember how honored I felt that they chose my paintings for representation by their gallery.

Below, me with "Pucker," one of my works on exhibit at Genovese/Sullivan (ca. 2002):

Origins: Part 4, New discoveries and opportunities

This is the fourth part in an ongoing series, in which I show my earlier works and trace how I found my voice as an artist.

With my giant studio space and my wonderful day job in place (as described in this earlier post), I could relax into this supportive arrangement and make it work for my career as an artist.

I began to expand on the paintings I had made just out of graduate school, experimenting with strong colors that were new to me, on large (50 and 60 inch) canvases. (Below, “Arbor" and “Pulp,” both 1998).





I had a technical breakthrough when I noticed that a studio neighbor of mine was using spray-paint in his paintings. I liked the soft edges and impression of casual freedom that spray-paint gave to an artwork. I wanted my work to have a feeling of elegance roughened with the “street spirit” that spray-paint marks could provide. (I had done extensive research on graffiti as part of my undergraduate thesis, so my interest went back a number of years.)

One of my early spray-paint pieces is “Dialogue 1,” shown below (36” H x 42” W, 1998). Not only did these new works give the mood I wanted, but I realized I could create what my husband called “modular” paintings: multiple pieces joined to make one larger image.



As I worked in my studio, refining these new technical discoveries, I had the opportunity to exhibit my work in a number of prestigious venues. One of my paintings was accepted into an exhibit at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, juried by Carolina Ponce de Leon, then curator of El Museo del Barrio.

I also had the piece below (“Chorus 1,” 28” H x 68” W, 1998) accepted into the 1999 Ninth Triennial at the Fuller Craft Museum (then the Fuller Museum of Art) in Brockton, MA, at the time an ongoing series of exhibits that showcased established Boston-area artists. This particular exhibit was juried by Carl Belz, then director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, and the show included many artists who were my heroes. So I was deeply honored to have been included.



I also was honored to have my exhibit proposal for “Inviting the Unknown,” a six-artist show accepted for display at the New Bedford Art Museum in 1999. I co-curated this show with dear friends and grad-schoolmates Alma Cummings and Domenic Cimino; all three of us were also participating artists. Here is a view of my work at the show:



Then I made “The Spring Series,” a group of 10 paintings inspired by the colors, markings and moods of wintertime fading into spring. This was the first time I had fully explored a single theme through a cohesive body of work, and the achievement felt very satisfying to me. I showed it during a two-person show at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston during July 1999. Below is one of these works, “Spring Series # 5” (acrylic, ink, spray-paint, oil-stick and fabric collage on canvas, 1998), which was later purchased by a collector in Auckland, New Zealand.



All of these experiences were exciting, and they led to my being invited to join one of Boston’s best-known galleries, to be described in the next installment …

Origins: Part 3, My Career Begins

Here’s the third part of an ongoing series, in which I show my earlier works and trace how I found my voice as an artist.

It was luck more than design, but once I had graduated with my master’s degree, I was determined to continue the momentum I had established during grad school. This meant finding a STUDIO, and here I soon struck gold.

I found a giant and very affordable studio in Fall River, Massachusetts. The building had formerly been a textile mill, circa nineteenth century, but now it housed a number of small businesses and artist studios.

When the realtor first showed me this giant space and told me the monthly rent was $150, I thought she had made an error and quickly signed the lease so as to lock in what I was sure was a mistaken amount. It wasn’t! This shot shows HALF of my giant studio:



The space gave my paintings room to GROW, and they soon did. I continued to work with acrylic paint and large shapes of fabric collaged onto stretched canvas. I often embellished the image with gestural lines made in oil stick (lines which later began to figure even more prominently in my work). Here’s a picture of me beside a work in progress in 1997 (taken by my husband, Kevin):



It wasn’t long before I received a studio visit from Joan Briand, who ran a lovely gallery in the same building as my studio and was known for championing local artists. Joan looked at my work and offered me a solo show on the spot. I was very excited!

So my exhibit “Collage Paintings” was presented at Facets Gallery during September 1997, only months after I had graduated from UMass Dartmouth. Here are some views from the show:







Another important thing that happened to me soon after college graduation was that I was hired at The New Bedford Standard-Times as a copy editor. This was total luck! I had no experience in journalism whatsoever. But I noticed, in my jobless state, that the newspaper company was housed in a large modern building (see below) within walking distance of my apartment, and I thought they might be hiring. I had worked as a secretary before, and wondered if they might need someone to answer their telephones.

Lo and behold, I was offered an interview and, soon afterward, a job as a copy editor. Frankly I didn’t even know what a copy editor was, but I accepted the job and soon realized that I was one of those nit-picky readers who could detect even the slightest error in the densest text.



I also struck gold with this job, in that: 1. I found myself working with the nicest group of people in that newsroom that I have ever known in my entire life (many of whom are still friends, 12 years later), and 2. I now had a secure financial situation that allowed me to paint during the day and work during the afternoon and evening. It was ideal!

Next installment: My professional painting career takes off …

Origins: Part 2, My Graduate School Experience

Here's the second part to a series I started last month, in which I show my earlier works and trace how I found my voice as an artist.

This entry is about my graduate school experience. (Below is "Scaffold," one of my favorite paintings from this period.)



I almost didn't go to graduate school at all.

I applied to both the Massachusetts College of Art and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. My grandparents had wanted me to go to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth ever since 1979, when I was applying to undergraduate programs, because it was located near their town. I always scoffed because I wanted to move to the Big City (to me, that was Boston!). But when my grandmother heard I was applying to graduate school in 1991, she wrote to the UMass Dartmouth admissions office and asked for information on their College of Visual and Performing Arts. I humored her when she placed the catalog in my hand, but I knew I would never go there. I had my heart set on graduate school in Boston, where, by that time, I had lived for the past 14 years. And I had no doubt that one of the Boston area graduate programs I had applied to would accept me.

My grandmother died while I was waiting to hear back from the various schools, and since I was visiting my grandfather a lot at that time, I decided to schedule a trip to UMass Dartmouth during one of my visits to his house. I called the department chair and he arranged for me to meet one of the painting professors and tour the facilities. My grandfather drove me to the appointment, and he looked so proud and happy as he was dropping me off.

I looked all around the building for the professor I had been scheduled to meet, but no one had seen him. I finally found an isolated office with a suited administrator sitting at her desk, and I told her about my appointment. She knew nothing about it, but she was kind enough to call the professor's office and ask around. No one had seen him and no one knew anything about our appointment. "I don't want to go to this school," I thought to myself, "if they can't even keep a scheduled appointment with a prospective student. Forget this place! I would never go here."

So I returned home and waited for my acceptance letters from Mass Art and the Museum School. They never came, but two rejection letters did. And finally, so did an acceptance letter from UMass Dartmouth, where I had already made up my mind not to go. My heart sank! But then I thought, "Do I want to go to graduate school or don't I? If I want to go, here is the path that has opened to me."

It was fortunate that I was flexible enough to revise my decision, because from that moment on, UMass Dartmouth was the PERFECT place for me. It was time for me to break from city life and move to the peaceful beauty of seaside Southcoast Massachusetts. My adviser, Willoughby Elliott, was supportive and generous (and, by the way, NOT the professor who had stood me up!). Bill realized that I was just finding myself as an artist, and his mentoring instincts told him when to gently question what I was doing and when to just leave me alone and let me do my thing. I also made many many wonderful friends among my fellow students. (Below is a view of my studio at graduate school.)



I happily displayed 7 large paintings at my thesis show in 1997 (me beside "Scaffold" at the opening reception, below, photo by my dear friend Alma Cummings):



The crowning touch of the experience was that the legendary actor Anthony Quinn, who was also a visual artist, was the guest speaker at graduation the year I graduated. Mr. Quinn visited the thesis show exhibit and stopped at my paintings, calling them "beautiful"! This caused the school's president to contact me and ask if I would show additional paintings on the walls of the university's gala celebration to honor Mr. Quinn. My first solo show! (Below is a view of me talking with Mr. Quinn at the gala, taken by Alma Cummings.)



UMass Dartmouth was the perfect experience for me. I laugh when I think that I almost didn't go to school there at all, and I feel a twinge when I realize that, if it hadn't been for my grandmother sending for that catalog, I would never have gone. She was right all along! (Below are "Thorn" and "Thaw," two other paintings from my graduate thesis show. All of these works are acrylic, oil stick, paper and fabric on canvas, and approximately 60" H x 50" W.)

Origins: an ongoing series on my artistic pathway

One of my favorite bloggers, textile artist Lisa Call, has been writing an “Online Retrospective” on her blog, and I’m enjoying finding out about the origins of one of her favorite series. In addition, one of my favorite painters, Ian MacLeod, has been posting images of his older works on Facebook, and I have found it fascinating to follow his process of development.

So I’ve decided to do something similar on my blog. I’ve been digging through old photo albums (I didn’t get a digital camera until 2005!) to find the origins of my pathway as an artist, and I will be presenting images of my older works here as part of an ongoing series.

After years and years of starts and stops, confusion and delays, and attending one semester at one college and another semester at another college, I finally earned my bachelor’s degree from Lesley University’s Adult Bachelor’s Program when I was 31. (When I attended in 1991-3, it was Lesley College’s Intensive Residency Option Program.)

By this time, I had determined to become a professional artist. I wasn’t entirely sure what that involved, but I knew I wanted to JUST PAINT. If it meant doing something else to earn money and support my painting, that was fine with me.

I knew I wanted a master’s degree, but I realized I needed more studio experience to get to that level. So I applied to and was accepted as a “special student” at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, where I studied for 3 full-time semesters in 1994 (spring, summer and fall) with the intention of: 1. immersing myself in creating art as many hours of the day as I could, and 2. compiling a portfolio that would get me into graduate school. (A career counselor told me once that I shouldn’t use the phrase “special student,” but that is the name Mass. Art used to describe those who are studying alongside undergraduates but who are not themselves matriculated or on a B.F.A. track.)

I signed up for a figure drawing course, as I had always loved working from the figure, and I enjoyed an excellent class with Barbara Grad. I also signed up for figure sculpture but instantly hated it and dropped it after the first day (I am not a three-dimensional person). And the rest of my credits were taken up with what was called “Painting Studio” – in other words, you are given a studio and assigned an adviser (mine was the wonderful Dan Kelleher), and you just paint paint paint whenever you want to. I was in Heaven.

Below is one of the figure studies I created in Barbara Grad’s class (she showed us how to use ink and a mop brush for our gesture drawings). Today I appreciate that this picture reveals the first stirrings of my love for abstract shape.



During my Painting Studio hours, I soon moved into making works on paper like the ones shown below (using various combinations of acrylic, ink and pastel). I notice in retrospect that they all have door-like shapes, as if I understood subconsciously that I was stepping over a threshold into new territory.

In a future installment: My discoveries at graduate school, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.